VoIP: Top 3 Tips to keep communications flowing and business ...

areed August 26th, 2011

As businesses across the east coast await the arrival of Hurricane Irene, it reminds us of how vulnerable we all are in times of natural disasters. With a seemingly steady stream of events hitting the U.S. lately, we thought it worthwhile to discuss business continuity planning. And, we?ve put together three important tips for using your business communications system to your advantage during a natural disaster.

If you?re not convinced this topic matters to your business, consider the following: 2010 was one of the deadliest years for natural disasters in more than a generation. According to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), it handled a record number of natural disasters last year.? Unfortunately, 2011 is proving to be another year of turmoil with back-to-back killer tornadoes, widespread flooding and wild fires, jarring earthquakes ? and now powerful hurricanes.

For businesses, this string of events has made it difficult to stay open and competitive when evacuations, power outages and physical damage to buildings take precedent over the routine daily operations. Economists have estimated the losses in the billions ($15 or more) for this year alone ? with the long-term economic impact still unknown.

At Digium, we fully understand the impact a natural disaster can have on your business. We received first-hand experience with the string of tornadoes that hit the south in April, which directly impacted our corporate headquarters.? In 2010, we also saw the impact of an earthquake in Haiti; in that case, our Asterisk open source communications platform played a role in providing emergency communications solutions for the people and businesses in Haiti.

With all of this in mind, we offer these tips to help you better ensure that your business is able to weather the storm.

#1 ? Make Sure Your Employees Are Safe and Have an Emergency (Mobile) Plan
When disaster hits, you have to consider the best way to maintain your business in triage mode. The first action is obvious, but critical ? ensure your employees? well being, along with that of their families?.? To reach them, ensure you can access standard and emergency contact information for all employees (don?t assume you can get hard copies of this information from your office/building). Having a mobile communications plan as a backup is critical.

#2 ? Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy: Your Business Communications System Backup
Some items may be out of your control.? What happens when the battery backup unit is not functioning for your local telephone lines?? Depending on the backup system in place, this could happen 8-24 hours after a power outage occurs.? Consider the generators you have to keep your servers or other key network and communications equipment active: are they tested and fully fueled?? Also, investigate co-locating or gaining access to a co-location for your key communications services ? such as your phone lines and phone system.? VoIP makes this easy.? The nature of IP switching and redundant technologies or routes through MPLS or other IP networks inherently let you have back up your data and IP voice communication to active networks through your service provider.? You will need to guarantee power to your phone system and have an active VoIP service to accomplish this. ?If you happen to be strictly old-school, you can set up a pay-for-usage VoIP service as a cheap alternate route.? Oh, and keep your cell phone in your pocket just in case.

#3 ? Create a Plan to Maintain Business Operations
Beyond basic connectivity and communications, there are steps to keep your business operating even when everything around you is down.? Consider such things as: ?how will you make payroll, ship orders, and maintain inventory in the midst of a disaster? Many companies go through a serious risk analysis process and have created a physical back-up location where redundant applications, hardware and services are available to maintain business.? Every business should consider backup plans for business operations. For example, ask: how much of my services are cloud-based or virtualized?? Can I access? back-up servers or services for payroll?? How will I access my shipping and inventory if my business location is damaged?? Consider the number of days that you can afford to be out of business and determine what steps will help you maintain your business beyond that point.? Putting this all together as part of an official business continuity plan is key.

In the end, we?ve learned that businesses do bounce back and that people are greatly willing to help out and pitch in during a disaster.? And, keeping the lines of communication open is more important than ever when disaster strikes. Ultimately, it can help decrease the long-term damage that a natural disaster can have on your business.

About the Author


areed

Angie Reed, Product Marketing Manager for Switchvox has over 13 years of experience in telecommunications. She has served in various roles from technical support and technical training to applications engineering. Most recently she has served in product marketing and channel development roles.

Source: http://blog.wavelink.com.au/voip-top-3-tips-to-keep-communications-flowing-and-business-open-when-disaster-strikes/

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